The present invention relates to insulated containers, and more particularly, to a portable cooling system for keeping food items cool from a storage location until delivery to the final consumer.
Food items include fresh animal or vegetable products, which may or may not have been processed. The temperature of these fresh products should be kept between 0xc2x0 and 4xc2x0 C. to preserve them. This temperature should be maintained during transport of these products from the place of purchase from a storage location until they reach the final consumer.
The desired temperature should be strictly adhered to since higher temperatures may cause germs and bacteria to develop, which would make consumption of such products undesirable for the consumer. It is very important to cool fresh food items within the desired temperature range, particularly since home sales and deliveries of such items is becoming an increasingly popular service.
Traditionally, fresh food items are kept at the appropriate temperature in cold rooms during storage, and in refrigerated vehicles. These vehicles are used to transport the fresh food items from their storage location to the customer""s home. Products may also be transported by vehicles using insulated containers. In this case, hermetically sealed and pressurized systems are used.
The logistics necessary for this method of delivering fresh products involves special equipment, which may be expensive. In addition, it is necessary for the drivers to have a drivers license for the delivery vehicles. Moreover, this delivery method is not suitable for urban areas since the size of the refrigerated vehicles are hindered by traffic conditions, such as traffic jams. It is difficult for the drivers to deliver products within the expected delivery time.
A major disadvantage of these systems, namely delivery vehicles with cold rooms or hermetically sealed and pressurized containers, is that they cannot enable the user to optimize the cooling system to take into account the storage and transport duration and the quantity of food items to be kept fresh. Thus, with these systems the user cannot optimize and modulate the time during which the cooling system is operational to satisfy their needs.
In view of the foregoing background, an object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive, easy to build insulated container capable of preserving fresh food items.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an insulated container that can easily be transported on a lightweight, two or three wheel motor powered vehicle or by any other method of transportation that is not provided with refrigeration equipment.
These and other objects, advantages and features according to the present invention are provided by an insulated container for the storage and transport of fresh food items to keep them at a desired temperature, preferably between 0 and 4xc2x0 C. The insulated container comprises a case and an insulating material lining the inside faces of the case.
The container comprises a diffuser cover provided with an independent refrigeration source connected to a thermal bridge by a support receptacle. This keeps the desired temperature inside the case for a determined period. An insulating cover fits over the diffuser cover to provide thermal insulation for the assembly.